Texas Trimmed by Virginia’s Barber

Slowing down on a slick field helped Virginia tailback Tiki Barber speed up the demise of Texas on Saturday night.

Barber ran for 121 yards and three first-quarter touchdowns, turning another important game into his personal showcase and leading the 19th-ranked Cavaliers to a surprisingly easy 37-13 victory over the 13th-rated Longhorns.

“Coach [Andre] Powell told me to get my feet under me and try to cut a little bit slower,” said Barber, who scored on runs of 16, 26 and 12 yards. “He said they would slip if I got a good cut, and that’s what happened.”

Barber, who gained 311 all-purpose yards last season in Virginia’s 33-28 victory over Florida State, also caught five passes for 52 yards.

“I give the ball to Tiki and I just want to watch him. He does amazing things,” quarterback Tim Sherman said. “It’s like watching Michael Jordan play basketball--you never know what he’s going to do.”

Virginia (4-0) dominated from the start. Texas (2-2) looked like it hadn’t recovered from last week’s last-second home loss to Notre Dame. The Longhorns committed six turnovers, trailed 21-0 before the first quarter was finished and never really challenged the Cavaliers on either side of the ball.

“Their linebackers were all over the place,” Texas guard Dan Neil said. “We’d have one good play and three bad ones, and you can’t win a football game like that.”

Virginia, which lost 18-17 last season at Austin, Texas, on Phil Dawson’s 50-yard field goal into the wind, avenged that loss, and gave resounding answers to questions about their ability raised this week by the Longhorns.

“[Running back] Ricky Williams said in the papers he didn’t know who me and Tiki were,” said Ronde Barber, Tiki’s twin. “I bet he does now.”

Ronde Barber had the second of Virginia’s four interceptions, and helped limit Williams to 44 yards on 19 carries.